Melbourne Aces say sayonara to their Yomiyuri Giants team mates

The Melbourne Aces’ home game on Thursday 23 December has been declared Japanese Night, to mark the occasion of The Emperor’s Birthday national holiday.

It’s the last chance Melburnians will have to view the Giants players in action during this inaugural season, as superstarYoshiyuki Kamei and pitchers Masumi Hoshino, Norihito Kaneto and Junpei Ono, infielder Takahiro Ijuin and outfielder Itaru Hashimoto and their coaching staff return to Tokyo to prepare for their own season.

“It’s been an absolute privilege to have had the Japanese players join our team this season,” said General Manager Windsor Knox. “They’re incredibly talented and have brought with them an outstanding work ethic that’s helped to raise the bar for our entire team. We’ll miss them after Christmas, but we’re still planning on finishing our season on a high.”

The Aces will take on the Brisbane Bandits, who will also be farewelling their Japanese players, to complete the last ABL game before Christmas. Following a disappointing start to the series last night, the Bandits will be out to provide a winning departure to their four Japanese imports, with Shuhei Fukuda, Akira Nakamura, Hiroki Yamada and Reo Chikada all returning to the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks after this series following successful stints down under.

As well being able to take in a world-class game of baseball, spectators at the event will enjoy a host of Japanese-themed activities including .Taiko Drumming, a sushi-eating competition and a not to-be-missed Sumo Suit race where the victor will win themselves a brand new TV.

Plenty of good seats are still available, and the game represents outstanding family entertainment value with tickets priced at $10.00 for adults and just $5 for children under the age of 16.

The game will be played on Thursday 23 December starting at 7.00pm, with gates opening at 5.30pm.